Guilty veridct in 2009 Troy shooting

Ariel Myers was on trial for third time for 2009 incident

Bob Gardinier, Times Union

By Bob Gardinier and Kenneth C. Crowe II

Updated 8:35 am, Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Ariel Myers sits quietly as opening statements are made during Myers' third trial in the 2009 shooting of Robert Guynup March 4, 2014 in Rensselaer County Court in Troy, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union)

Defendant Ariel Myers, left stands with attorney Jay Hernandez as the judge returns to the courtroom during Myers' third trial in the 2009 shooting of Robert Guynup March 4, 2014 in Rensselaer County Court in Troy, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union)

Robert Guynup's family members listen to opening statements during Ariel Myers' third trial in the 2009 shooting of Robert Guynup March 4, 2014 in Rensselaer County Court in Troy, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union)

Assistant District Attorney Shane Hug gives his opening statement during Ariel Myers' third trial in the 2009 shooting of Robert Guynup March 4, 2014 in Rensselaer County Court in Troy, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union)

Judge Andrew Ceresia instructs the jury before the opening statements during Ariel Myers' third trial in the 2009 shooting of Robert Guynup March 4, 2014 in Rensselaer County Court in Troy, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union)

A Rensselaer County Court jury convicted a city man Monday afternoon of shooting and permanently disabling a man who was taking photos of a rowdy crowd of teenagers at the Griswold Heights apartments in 2009.

Ariel Myers was found guilty of first-degree assault and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

It was the third time that Myers was tried for the 3:30 a.m. Sept. 13, 2009 shooting of Robert Guynup.

"I've never been a part of a case that's been this difficult emotionally to deal with," said Assistant District Attorney Shane Hug.

Guynup's family and friends hugged and gathered with Hug following the trial.

Myers' family and friends were emotionally upset by the verdict. They left the courtroom immediately.

Myers faces a prison term of 5 to 25 years for the assault charge and 3 1/2 to 15 years for the weapons count.

The shooting occurred when Guynup went outside his single-family home across the street from the Troy Housing Authority complex and started taking pictures of the young people yelling and fighting to show police what goes on in the neighborhood. Members of the crowd yelled at him to stop.

A shot was fired, and Guynup was hit in the head and permanently disabled. He cannot walk or talk and needs 24-hour care.

The gun was never recovered.

Defense attorney Jay Hernandez told jurors that prosecutors had no forensic evidence linking Myers to the crime and only one eyewitness, though upward of 50 youths were at the scene.

Prosecutors said Myers was the person who fired the shot, and the jury agreed.

Myers' first trial in 2010 was declared a mistrial when his appointed attorney, Gregory Cholakis, told the judge that he and the public defender's office had represented some of the prosecution's witnesses in other matters.

At the retrial in August 2010, Myers was acquitted of attempted second-degree murder and convicted of first-degree assault. Myers was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

In December 2013, an appeals court overturned the conviction and ordered a new trial. The appellate judges said prosecutors should not have presented a witness who told jurors he saw Myers wielding a .25-caliber handgun at the apartment complex just months before the shooting.